With perfect timing, the modders behind the Van Buren remake in Fallout: New Vegas have released a new teaser trailer.
UnitedWestTeam released the teaser, which sets up Fallout: The New West, the fan-made total conversion mod for Fallout: New Vegas inspired by Fallout: Van Buren, the cancelled Fallout 3 that was in development at Black Isle Studios in the early 2000s before the franchise moved over to Bethesda.
Fallout: The New West aims to adapt the core narrative threads of Van Buren and turn them into a fully playable story built in the New Vegas engine. Expect modern gameplay systems, expanded roleplaying opportunities, and “the mechanical depth and tone that defined classic Fallout,” the modders said.
Here’s the official blurb:
Fallout: The New West is a fan-made total conversion mod for Fallout: New Vegas. In many ways, it tells the same broad story envisioned by Fallout: Van Buren, but restructured and expanded to form a cohesive, playable experience. The project’s primary narrative goal is to take the disparate plot threads and unfinished concepts found in the original design documents, including for example, the NCR–Brotherhood conflict, the Great Tribal War between Caesar’s Legion and the Daughters of Hecate, the fight for the soul of the Mormon State and much more, and weave them into a satisfying, unified narrative that adheres to the main plot as described in the design documents.
Players assume the role of a new protagonist, released from captivity in 2253, known as “the Prisoner,” and the story is set in an alternate continuity that predates and reinterprets the events of Fallout: New Vegas. Unfortunately due to many Van Buren concepts being folded into FNV, we cannot set the project in the same timeline. Our secondary goal is to incorporate many of the modern gameplay conveniences introduced through Fallout: New Vegas and its more than 15 years of modding, while preserving the distinctive mechanics and design quirks of classic Fallout found in the original design documents. Much of Fallout’s original charm is an acquired taste, and one that we believe remains worth acquiring.
It sounds exciting, and given the success of Fallout: London, which had Bethesda’s blessing, it may even have a chance of survival. Indeed, a new demo is apparently due out soon (an initial demo, which released under the name Fallout Revelation Blues, came out last year). This alternate start demo under the new name of Fallout: The New West will be followed up with the entirety of Act 1 of the game as a vertical slice, the modders said.
Cain, who worked on the first two, much-loved Fallout games in the mid-to late 90s before leaving Interplay to start a new studio called Troika Games, revealed that in the middle of 2003, an unnamed Interplay vice president asked him to play the Van Buren prototype, saying: “I don’t think they can get it done, so I’m just going to cancel it. But if you look over it and give me an estimate there’s a chance I wouldn’t cancel it.”
Cain said he played the prototype for two hours and asked the development team a number of questions before delivering his verdict to the vice president. “I said, ‘I’m convinced in 18 months you could have a really good game shipped.’ And he said, ‘huh, could it be done any faster?’ And I was like, 'oh, shoot, I’ve said too long.' I said, ‘well, even if you did a death march crunch I don’t think you could do it faster than 12, and then you’d be shipping something that was unbalanced and buggy, and the team would be destroyed. So I don’t recommend that.’
“And he said, ‘OK, thanks.’ As we walked out he basically explained any answer over six months was going to result in him having to cancel it, meaning the answer I just gave got the game canceled. But he was going to cancel it anyway. He thought it couldn’t be done in six months, and I just confirmed that to him.”
According to Cain, the cancellation of Van Buren was, ultimately, about money; Interplay’s dire financial situation meant it simply did not have enough cash to fund more than six months of further development. Interplay went on to close Black Isle Studios and cut its entire staff. The company released the console spinoff Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel in 2004 for the Xbox and PlayStation 2, but it was not enough. That same year, Interplay announced a licensing deal with The Elder Scrolls developer Bethesda for future Fallout games, and in 2007, Interplay sold the Fallout IP to Bethesda outright. The rest is history.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Up first will be the Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition, which will launch its physical edition (containing a digital download code) on April 28, priced $59.99. Dealabs suggests the game could arrive digitally via the Nintendo eShop even sooner — perhaps as soon as today — though this is unconfirmed.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will then arrive on May 12, priced $69.99. Dealabs believes this date will apply to both the game's physical edition (likely containing a Game-Key Card) as well as its digital eShop release.
Fallout 4's Anniversary Edition includes the base game, six official add-ons, and over 150 pieces of Creation Club content. It's apparent announcement today would be well timed, following the finale of Fallout Season 2. Here's hoping it's more enjoyable than Amazon's disappointing Fallout announcement tease.
Officially, of course, we'll just have to wait and tune in to Nintendo's big Partner Direct broadcast, which is set to air imminently — at 6am Pacific, 9am Eastern or 2pm UK time.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
With just hours to go until today's Nintendo Direct broadcast, an updated ratings board listing suggests Hollow Knight could get an imminent Switch 2 release.
Team Cherry's long-awaited game is now listed for Switch 2 with a February 5, 2026 release date, per the website of European ratings board PEGI. Hey, that's today!
Nintendo is due to air its latest Partner Direct later today, at 6am Pacific, 9am Eastern or 2pm UK time. This third-party game showcase will include 20 minutes of announcements featuring titles headed to Switch and Switch 2 that aren't developed by Nintendo itself — such as Hollow Knight.
Don't tune in expecting a new Mario game announcement, then, but do keep an eye out for more news on other upcoming Switch 2 releases such as this month's Resident Evil Requiem, and the promising-looking 007: First Light. Oh, and Hollow Knight now too. What will this new edition contain?
Alongside releasing Hollow Knight again on Switch 2, Team Cherry is now busy working on Sea of Sorrow, its first expansion to Hollow Knight: Silksong. Will we see more of this today as well? Time will tell, but as ever IGN will be reporting all of the major announcements live.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
The latest episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy centers on the mystery surrounding Deep Space Nine's beloved captain Benjamin Sisko — and even includes a cameo of sorts from actor Avery Brooks.
Warning! Spoilers for Starfleet Academy follow:
Starfleet Academy's fifth episode, Series Acclimation Mill, was released today, and follows some notable hints by the show that it would reveal more about Sisko's fate. Indeed, the story does include new details on what happened next to Sisko's family following the events of Deep Space Nine's finale, which saw Sisko leave the physical plane to go live in a wormhole — while promising one day to return.
As Starfleet Academy's new character SAM investigates what happened, viewers get to see Ben's son Jake appear in hologram form (played by returning DS9 actor Cirroc Lofton) and meet a new incarnation of Trill lifeform Dax, both of whom reveal new detail on life after Deep Space Nine's credits rolled.
The adult Jake hologram is shown to have grown up as a successful writer, continuing on from his work as a journalist in later DS9 episodes. He also reveals that he is now a father, and is following the fine example that his own father set. As of the hologram's recording, it certainly seems like Sisko has not returned at this point.
Later in the episode, SAM meets Illa Dax, a new host of the symbiote who was previously good friends with Ben as hosts Curzon, Jadzia, and Ezri. (In a nice touch, Illa is also Cardassian!) Now 1,250 years old, Dax still holds warm memories of Ben — though again the suggestion here is that Ben still has not returned.
But as the episode reaches its closing moments, Star Trek fans do get to hear from Sisko. While unseen, Avery delivers the following words — the first time his voice has been heard within Star Trek in a quarter of a century:
"Divine laws are simpler than human ones, which is why it takes a lifetime to be able to understand them. Only love can understand them. Only love can interpret these words as they were meant to be interpreted."
As reported by ComicBook, this dialogue is taken from a spoken word album that the 77-year-old Brooks recorded back in 2007, partially in tribute to his own father. While not originally intended for use in Star Trek, Paramount contacted Brooks — who formally retired from acting in 2013 — who then granted permission for its use in the episode.
The episode then closes with the Deep Space Nine theme, as a title card displays the simple message: "Thank you, Avery."
As tributes go, it's a moving moment clearly designed as a farewell to Sisko's character, in an episode centered on the idea of finding identity, and the legacy of fathers. And while Avery may not have come out of retirement to appear in person, fans who long wondered whether Sisko ultimately did return to his family now have more of an answer.
"Starfleet Academy is off to a strong start," IGN wrote in our review of its first two episodes. "While the pilot episode falls into a bit of the shock-and-awe trap that modern Star Trek sometimes does, it soon settles into a fun and exciting story that establishes the endearing young cast and direction of the new show."
Image credit: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
It’s a statement of intent that Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick doubled down on in an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer. When asked how he knows GTA 6 will hit November, Zelnick said development progress is tracked every day, and pointed to the marketing milestone.
“We also announced that we have marketing beats coming this summer, and we don’t spend money on marketing until we’re pretty close to release,” he explained.
So, what can we expect from the marketing itself? Zelnick didn’t say exactly, but it sounds like it’ll be something unusual, at least from a video game marketing perspective. In the interview, Zelnick described the effort as a “challenge.”
“It is a challenge, because we want the product to be authentically owned by our consumers,” he said. “And so the marketing has to be delicate. It has to feel like, you know, this is real. We’re not selling hamburgers. We’re selling this unique art form.”
What this means is anyone’s guess at this point. Perhaps a social media-fueled ARG of some description? Real world GTA events of some kind that get fans involved? Given the enormous interest in all things GTA, nothing’s off the table here. All fans really want is GTA 6 Trailer 3, of course. That would do.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
As unhappy players fight to get refunds out of Steam, an update from one of the studio's directors claims the "entire" development team working on the ill-fated MMO Ashes of Creation was reportedly laid off without notice or their January paychecks.
The shocking revelation comes from Intrepid Studios' former director of communications, Margaret Krohn, who revealed in a lengthy post on Twitter/X that three days after originally being told around 100 developers would be losing their jobs, a "confusing email" arrived confirming "all" staff would be laid off. "It is still shocking," Krohn wrote. "The entire studio gathered to try to understand what had happened and what it meant for our future."
Earlier this week, Steam quietly withdrew Ashes of Creation from sale after its director and leadership team quit just weeks after it launched as a $50 Early Access game on Steam. The game's director Steven Sharif said "much of" the senior dev team had quit "in protest," claiming that its management board had asked him to do things he "could not ethically support." According to Sharif, the Board then issued WARN Act notices — layoff warnings, in other words — to the remaining staff. It's unclear who sits on this mysterious board.
According to a new public record request, we now know that the formal WARN Act notification was issued on January 31 and indicated that 210 employees were "affected" by the filing, 123 of whom worked in California.
"In the end, none of us are receiving our final paychecks, the 60-day notice and pay outlined under the WARN Act, PTO payouts, or other compensation owed," Krohn explained.
"What matters most to me now are the people — both the players and developers. To my colleagues: this team is truly a family. The culture we built together is something I have never experienced anywhere else. In the midst of heartbreak and uncertainty, we have come together to review resumes, help with portfolios, share job leads, and support one another emotionally. That says everything about who we are as people."
"To the players: the entire development team was working extremely hard, pulling long hours, and wishes with all our hearts that we could give you Ashes of Creation. There are no words that fully express how sorry we are that this journey ended this way. You should pursue a refund, you deserve it."
Unfortunately, Steam doesn't seem to agree. While you can find plenty of people across Discord and Reddit claiming to have received refunds despite having played more than two hours, there's an equal number of players frustrated that their requests have been denied, and there seems to be little consistency across Steam's Support team.
"They denied me with 2.3 hours played. Bought in December and denied because it 'exceeds refund time,'" wrote one player, while another said: "I can't believe it… and I'm hearing they froze/reversed the December payment to Intrepid so basically Steam have stollen [sic] my money."
"How many hours did you have? I had 15 Hours played and got refunded on a manual process," replied one. "[Steam support] said to me if I open another ticket about this they will close it without reading," added this unhappy player who had failed to convince Steam of a refund despite several attempts.
The most successful requests seem to be via human checks, so players are still suggesting that those looking for a refund check the box to "request a refund," but instead contact Steam via the "I have a question about this product" box. That way, your request will be routed to a member of customer support, and not an automated service.
19,576 backers pledged $3,271,809 on Kickstarter to help make Ashes of Creation a reality, the most ever raised on the platform for an MMO. Refunds via Kickstarter seem unlikely given the game launched in Early Access form.
Meanwhile, Sharif popped up on Discord briefly on February 4 to write: "It is certainly heartbreaking to see the impact to the people I care about both my developers and community, but given what has transpired and the lack of facts available to the public, the reputational impact is something that cannot be avoided until the record is set straight with the proper public filings. Unfortunately that takes a little bit of time."
While you can't buy Ashes of Creation from Steam right now, its website is still live and accepting payment for cosmetics. While the site is typically updated several times a month, only one update was posted in the whole of January, and that was alluding to a developer diary livestream coming up on February 13. It's not clear who will host that given reports the entire team has been laid off.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Nioh 3 is coming to the PC tomorrow, and KOEI Tecmo has provided us with a review code for it. Powered by Team Ninja’s in-house Katana Engine, it’s time now to benchmark it and examine its performance on PC. For our benchmarks, I used an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D, 32GB of DDR5 at 6000Mhz, AMD’s … Continue reading Nioh 3 PC Performance Analysis→
Build A Rocket Boy has just released Title Update 7 for MindsEye and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this new patch brings to the table. Patch 7 adds extra guidance markers to several missions, making it easier for players to navigate the campaign. It also increases NPC health in some missions … Continue reading MindsEye Title Update 7 Released – Full Patch Notes→
NACON has released the official story trailer for its upcoming Styx game, Styx: Blades of Greed. This story trailer revisits the key events of Styx: Master of Shadows and Styx: Shards of Darkness. In Styx: Blades of Greed, your goal will be to get your hands on Quartz, the most precious – and dangerous – … Continue reading Here’s the official story trailer for Styx: Blades of Greed→
IGN has shared a new video, showcasing 12 minutes of brand new gameplay footage from Mouse: P.I. For Hire. This gameplay is from Vaudeville, the second mission of the campaign, and the first case Jack gets assigned. Mouse: P.I. For Hire will look like those cartoons from the 1930s with a noir vibe. The game … Continue reading Here are 12 minutes of new gameplay from Mouse: P.I. for Hire→
Pokémon character designer Yusuke Omura has revealed how he created the designs of the Ultra Beasts, showing that even rejected concepts can prove inspirational to artists later on.
Ultra Beasts first appeared in the 3DS games Pokémon Sun and Moon (known as Generation VII of the Pokémon games) back in 2016. They are extradimensional Pokémon that come from Ultra Space, and occasionally stumble into the Pokémon World through wormholes.
Pokémon series character designer Yusuke Omura tweeted on February 4 about how he designed the Ultra Beasts. For Sun and Moon, Omura was the lead Pokémon character designer, continuing to work alongside original Pokémon designer Ken Sugimori.
Omura explained that he came up with the Ultra Beasts’ looks by thinking back on his Pokémon designs that Sugimori had rejected. Omura then explained: “I then deliberately based the artistic direction (of the Ultra Beasts’ designs) on the reasons that these Pokémon were rejected.”
“In a way, they are like a collective manifestation of my own resentment, which is kind of scary.” Omura noted, before clarifying: “This doesn’t mean that I hate Sugimori or anything like that.”
The Ultra Beasts are more sci-fi or insect-inspired than the cuter, often animal or plant-influenced designs of Ken Sugimori’s original Pokémon, like Squirtle or Bulbasaur. They also often have exaggerated features, like the mosquito-like Buzzwhole’s chunky muscles, or the elegant Phermosa’s long antenna.
In response to Omura’s tweet, users chimed in with praise for the Ultra Beasts’ designs. “Thank you for bringing Ultra Beasts into the world!” one user replied. “I think their otherworldly appearance also opened up new avenues for Pokémon.” Omura replied “I designed them hoping that would be the case.”
“It really feels like the Pokémon world expanded thanks to the Ultra Beasts,” another commenter added. “The designer’s hard work really paid off.” Many others hope that the Ultra Beasts will appear in another mainline Pokémon game in the future.
With Pokémon marking its 30th anniversary this year, fans can look forward to at least one new game coming out: Pokémon Pokopia. But it’s likely that there are more announcements in the pipeline. For starters, Jigglypuff will be appearing at the Superbowl (of all places…) in a special anniversary video this weekend.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
PlayStation 5 sales declined year-on-year during the crucial holiday quarter, but it’s pretty much neck-and-neck with the PlayStation 4 at the same point during its lifecycle, and it even outsold the Nintendo Switch 2 during the last three months of 2025.
Sony shifted another 8 million PS5 units during the three months ending December 31, 2025, a decline from the 9.5 million PS5s it sold during the same period in 2024. But there are a number of factors at play here. For a start, 8 million sales isn’t too shabby when you consider the PS5 price rises Sony put in place last year (Sony raised the prices of the PS5, PS5 Digital Edition, and PS5 Pro by $50 each in August). Then there’s the tough economic conditions globally that’s putting pressure on consumer spending generally to contend with.
The PS5 has now sold 92.2 million units globally, which means it’s still lagging ever so slightly behind its predecessor, the PS4, at this point in each console’s lifecycle (PS4 had sold 94.4 million by now). But with the release of guaranteed console seller GTA 6 coming in November, the PS5 will receive a shot in the arm that may drive it to outselling the PS4 when the dust settles on both consoles.
And here's a fun stat: the PS5 has now officially outsold the PS3. As mentioned, PS5 has sold 92.2 million, and the PS3 managed 87.4 million lifetime sales (as of March 31, 2017). And while the PS5 has some way to go before matching the PS4's 117 million lifetime sales, with the help of GTA 6, it could eventually beat it.
Speaking during a webcast reviewed and transcribed by IGN following its financial results, Sony pointed to increased monetization of its growing PS5 install base as well as growing software sales as more than making up for the decline in console sales. It pointed to the release of Sucker Punch’s PS5 exclusive Ghost of Yotei, which made a “significant contribution” to the quarter, as well as ongoing revenue from Helldivers 2 and MLB The Show.
“FY25 Q3 sales decreased 4% year-on-year, primarily due to lower hardware unit sales,” Lin Tao, Sony’s chief financial officer, said. “Operating income increased 19% year-on-year, primarily due to the positive impact of foreign exchange rates and the impact of increased sales and network services and first-party software, setting a record for the third quarter in this segment.
“We upwardly revised our FY25 sales forecast 4% from the previous forecast to 4,630 billion yen, and our operating income forecast 2% to 510 billion yen. User engagement trended well during the quarter with the number of monthly active users across all of the PlayStation in December increasing 2% compared to the last December to a record high of 132 million accounts. And total play time for the quarter increased 0.4% year-on-year.
“Although conditions in the console hardware market during year-end selling season were more challenging than expected, we were able to steadily expand our PS5 install base in line with our original plan and exceeded 92 million units on a cumulative selling basis.
“While PS5 hardware unit sales have decreased moderately in the latter half of the console cycle, software revenue from the PlayStation Store reached a record high during the quarter, primarily driven by the contribution of major third-party franchise titles and new hit releases. PlayStation Plus significantly contributed to the results of the quarter as the shift to higher tiers of the service continued.”
Sony even waved away concern about potential further PS5 price rises as a result of the rising cost of memory fueled by the AI boom, insisting it’s already in a position to secure the minimum quantity necessary to manage the year-end selling season of its next fiscal year.
“Going forward, we intend to further negotiate with various suppliers to secure enough supply to meet the demand of our customers,” Lin Tao continued. “Given the stage of our console cycle, our hardware sales strategy can be adjusted flexibly and we intend to minimize the impact of the increased memory cost on this segment going forward by prioritizing monetization of the install base to date and striving to further expand our software and network service revenue.”
Sony also namechecked Bungie’s live service extraction shooter Marathon, which is due out in March after a significant delay. It sounds relatively confident in the game after it was retooled following negative feedback.
“We expect that Marathon, which is scheduled to be released on March 5, will be enjoyed by many users thanks to Bungie having strengthened the gaming experience,” Lin Tao said. “Next fiscal year, we plan to release new titles such as Saros and Marvel's Wolverine, and we intend to enhance our effort to increase the revenue of our studio business.”
David Gibson, senior analyst at MST international who focuses on game and tech companies, published a Japanese language report ahead of today’s financials giving insights into the Sony Group's current performance and potential next moves. “Sony expects the PS5 lifecycle to be longer than that of previous console generations,” Gibson said, adding that this is likely to push the PS6 launch back beyond previous predictions. “There’s a high likelihood that the PS6 launch will occur after 2028.” If Gibson is right, we won't see the PS6 until 2029 at the earliest.
Gibson suggested that Sony is more focused on existing PS5 users than boosting console sales, something the latest comments from Lin Tao now back up. Regarding PlayStation Network services and active PS5 users, Gibson observed that “PS5 user activity continues to set all-time record highs according to usage data. Sony is focusing more on retaining active users than expanding hardware sales.”
Photo by Anusak Laowilas/NurPhoto via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo appears to have confirmed that Thor star Chris Hemsworth will be back for Avengers: Secret Wars.
During a Buzzfeed interview, both Avengers were asked if they could accurately count the number of superhero projects they'd now been in. While counting, Ruffalo suggested Hemsworth was in six Avengers movies — even though his current total (including his announced appearance in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday) is five.
Marvel fans have pounced on the clip, which is now being shared around social media, as evidence that Thor survives the events of Doomsday long enough to be around for its sequel. There's the suggestion, too, that Ruffalo is speaking like he's in the same boat — which would mean Hulk makes it to Secret Wars as well.
Mark Ruffalo spoils that Chris Hemsworth is returning as Thor in ‘AVENGERS: SECRET WARS’
Thor's recent Avengers: Doomsday trailer (that's not a trailer, apparently) also struck a somber tone, as Thor begs for strength from his fallen father so he can return home to his daughter. And finally, there have been the usual questions around how long these actors want to continue playing the roles that have now taken up well over a decade of their lives.
"One, two, three, four — how many have we done?" Hemsworth says, counting out loud.
"Six," Ruffalo responds.
"Six?!" Hemsworth replies, surprised.
"Well, there will be," Ruffalo says.
After counting some more, Hemsworth then replies: "Yeah, but we haven't shot that one."
For those who've also lost count, four Avengers movies have been released to date (The Avengers, Age of Ultron, Infinity War, and Endgame) with a fifth, Avengers: Doomsday, already in the can. Secret Wars would certainly be a sixth (though this would seemingly put an end to the speculation that Marvel is secretly planning to split Secret Wars in two, to make a new Avengers trilogy.)
Of course, even if Thor (or Hulk) does appear in the multiversal Secret Wars, all bets are off as to what form any appearance might take. Even if Hemsworth does return, it could still be via flashback, alternate version, or even a deathly appearance set in Valhalla, hanging out with Jane and Heimdall.
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